And I tell you translates a strongly emphatic transitional formula; New Jerusalem Bible renders “So I now say to you”; New English Bible “And I say this to you”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Therefore I say to you.”

You are Peter, and on this rock … is translated in Good News Translation as “Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation….” As RSV’s footnotes indicate, there is a wordplay in Greek between Peter (Greek Petros) and rock (Greek petra). Although the wordplay is clear enough in Greek, it would have been even more obvious in Aramaic, the language which Jesus spoke. As can be seen from the transliteration of the Greek words, the masculine derivative form Petros (Peter) has a different ending from the root word petra, which is feminine and means rock. Aramaic, however, would not distinguish between masculine and feminine forms, so that the result would be “You are kefa, and on this kefa I will build….” Some translations attempt to make this equation explicit: “You are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock…” (New English Bible), “you are Peter—the man whose name means a rock—on this rock…” (Barclay), and “you are Peter the rock, and it is on this rock…” (Phillips). Some interpreters have attempted to avoid the evident meaning of the text by assuming that rock refers either to Peter’s confession or to his faith, since both “confession” and “faith” are feminine nouns in Greek, as is the word rock. Different interpretations will inevitably arise regarding the implications of Jesus’ statement, but the text is clear in what it says, and it must be translated in this light.

A good translation of I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock depends on this play on words. I tell you, you are Peter will sound strange indeed if the wordplay that follows is not made clear. Putting the information in a footnote will not be sufficient except for quite skilled readers. As a result, most translators do something similar to Phillips (cited above) or Good News Translation.

Although the verb build may be used in a literal sense of constructing a physical structure (7.24), it is not used in that sense here, for church means “congregation,” “people,” “assembly,” or, more specifically, “community of believers,” without reference to a physical building. Except for the appearance of church in 18.17, the noun is not used elsewhere in any of the Gospels.

Church, “community,” and “group” are all singular forms. Jesus is referring to the institution he will found. To say “I will create believers around you,” for example, will not convey this.

There are therefore three problems the translator has to solve in on this rock I will build my church: 1) church means the community of believers; 2) build is used figuratively; 3) rock must be retained because of the play on words. Some translators have rendered the whole verse as a simile: “in the same way that a building can be built on a rock (foundation), so I will make you the support for the community of those who believe in me” or “I will develop around you the group of those who follow me, just like a building is constructed on a rock foundation.” A less cumbersome rendering would be “when I create my community of believers, you are the rock that will be the foundation.”

And the powers of death shall not prevail against it (New English Bible “and the powers of death shall never conquer it”) is translated “and not even death will ever be able to overcome it” by Good News Translation. A more literal rendering is given by New International Version: “and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Actually “Hades” of New International Version is not a translation but rather a transliteration of a Greek word which has “place of the dead” as its primary meaning (see 11.23 for the only other occurrence of the word in Matthew). Here the picture is that of a “gate” through which one enters the “world of the dead,” from which there is no return. Therefore “world of the dead” becomes equivalent to “death,” while “gate” symbolizes the power that death has over its victims. An excellent Old Testament example which parallels the usage here is found in Isaiah 38.10, where Hezekiah complains that the little time he has to live will be dominated by the fact of his impending death: “I am consigned to the gates of Sheol (meaning ‘world of the dead’) for the rest of my years.” The powers of death (Good News Translation “death”) represent humanity’s last and most feared enemy, but Jesus affirms that his community of faith need not fear its awesome power: “no enemy shall be able to destroy it, not even death” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Also good is “not even death is powerful enough to destroy (or, defeat) it.”

It, of course, refers to church. The text must not seem to say that death is not strong enough to defeat believers; the idea is that death is not strong enough to defeat the community of believers that Jesus is going to create.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .